Improvement in peat machine



1. T. FUSTER.

Peat Machine. y

No. 62,951. Patented Mar. 19.1867.

Witnesses@ l-rvw'entom witch JoEN fr, EosrEn, or J EnsEY CITY, NEET JERSEY. Letta-S Patent ne. 62,951, and Mai-e7 19, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN FEAT MACHINE.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JOHN T. FOSTER, of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson, and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Machines for Grinding, Mixing, and Shaping Peat and other substances, of which the following is a' full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 represents a plan of a mill or machine, constructed according to my improvement. Figure 2, a side view thereof. A

Figure 3, a horizontal section, teken as vdenoted by the line a' :z: in lig. 2. Figure 4, an rinverted. plan in part; and I Figure 5, a transverse vertical section in part. Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several gures. My improvement has refereneeto the manufacture of peat, or other substance or substances capable of 'being similarly worked, into blocks, for fuel or other purposes, by means of a mill or machine, which operates not only to grind, but to cut and mix, and afterwards to shape and sever, said ,material into blocks of equal length and similar form and size; and the nature of'lny invention consists, firstly, in a peculiarly shaped or constructed st irrer, arrangcidto revolve on a verticall axis within a cylinder or hopper, and revolving continuad tion cylinder, formed with oblique slots in its periphery, 'and further consists in. a novel combinatiomwvitha stirrer or agitator, of concentric obliquely slotted cylinders,-for the more eii'eotual cutting, grinding,l and' miieA ing of the peat; alsoiu certain novel devices, or combination of devices, for cutting, shaping, and delivering the peat automatically, by the action of the delivery thereof, intobloclrs of uniform size. i

Referring to the accompanying drawing, A. is a cylinder, into which the peat, in its original or undressed state,.'is thrownor fed at the top, that may be made i'lariug or of hopper form. The Ainside of this cylinder, which lis shown stationary, is provided with any suitable number of pins, a, projecting inwards, and between which curvilinear-shaped vanos or teeth, I), projecting from or connected by boss or drum with a vertical shaft, B, work by therctation of the latter, which may be effected by bevel-gear c c', through a driving-shaft, C. These vanesy or teeth I) b present a convex front edge to their linel or lines or planes of motion, and are bevelled, or set'sloping upwards, from their rear in said direction on their under surfaces, forming a moderately sharp edge in front, and it may be also in their rear. They are dispersed soas to form a consecutive series, in any number, arranged one below the other in spiral directions round the 'shaft which carries them, so that no two lic one under the other. Thus constructed and arranged, said teeth serve, in conjunction with the pins a a, not only to cut and mix the` peat, but to urge or press it'downwards through the cylinder A into a lower cylinder, D, within which vanes (l d, connected with the shaft B, work. These vanes are somewhat of the form 0E the teeth b b, presenting a convex front' surface totheir travel, but more of a convolute shape, andmore closely approximating a vertical position, only slightly iucliniiig 'in a downward direction towards the rear on said surface.andl being of the depth, or thereabouts,of the cylinder D, within which they act' upon the peat to mix, and to a certain'extent press downwardly on it, and to force or urge it through oblique slots e e cut in or arranged round the cylinder D, which is made to revolve in'a reverse direction to the vanes dd, and the obli quity of the slots in which is that of sloping towards the rear in a downwardly direction relatively to the course of said cylinders motion. lThiscylinder D is one of a system of concentric cylinders, of which there may be any number, arranged-on and attached so as to move with a revolving table, E, travelling in a reverse direction to and round the shaft B, say by means of bevel-gear ff. F G are two of such outer concentric cylinders, arranged at a moderate distance apart, and formed with similar inclined slots g y to those of the cylinder D,

with'which F and G revolve. The closeness or frequency of these slots may be varied in the several cylinders. The cylinders D and F are sufficiently close to each other to receive snugly within them a stationary cylinder, H, formed with slots h h'round its periphery, preferably of an oblique form, and sloping in a. reverse direction to those of the cylinders'D and F, whereby the peat, in being forced or pressed through the three interior cy`1 inders D H and F,Ais more thoroughly ground, out, and mixed Aby the action of the, cylinders and' their slots, while the Obliquity o'f the latter in the cylinders which revolve Aexerts a constant tendency to keep the peat down and solid. Arranged round the exterior of the outer cylinder G are anynumber, though one' only is shown, of forming tubes I, through which, by the oblique slots in the outer cylinder, the peat is delivered.

These tubes may be of any suitable size and sl1ape,v'and each one is-arranged to operate in connection with internal and external devices, as follows: J is a stationary and preferably pivoted and adjustable director,

arranged across the circular channel which separates the two outer cylinders, and in suoli relation to the tube I as to cut or shave the mass of peat in said channel, and cause it to be forced out through the oblique slots in the outer cylinder into the tube I. It will be seen that, though the spcedof the outer'revolving cylinder is so much greater than that of the inner one, the action of the peat approximates throughout the several cylinders, thereby keeping i-t solid, and timing vthe clelivery to the feed of it by the action of the vanos attached to the shaft'B, travelling in a reverse direction to the revolving cylinders, and by the `intervention of the stationary cylinder between two of the revolving ones. The peat forced into the tube I, and shaped therein, is driven outwards along a pivoted side guide, K, and up against a gauge, L, attached to a lever, z', which has its upper arm pressed inwards by a spring, j, and itsA lower arm attached by a loose rod, 7c, to the lower arm of a lever, l, pivoted to a rocking shaft, m, and the upper arm of which forms a stop, which, at intervals, as hereinafter described, serves for a striker, n, connected with the revolving table E, to, es it passes it, force to one side and so rock the shaft m.. This shaft carries a radial knife, M, which, when worked.` moves across the mouth of the forming tube I, to cut the peat forced out against the gauge L. Said knife is' connected by a rod, o, to a lever, p, and is thrown back and held back by the action of a spring, q.- The side guide K is geared by a pin and obliquely slotted arm with the knife M,`so that when the latter moves forward to cut the peat, said guide also moves forward to aid the knife and support the block in, lts cut, and to deliver it out of the way into or on to a carrier slide, N, which, everytime the knife moves forward, is pushed onwards by the action of a spring-pressed dog, r. The cutting action of' the knife M is regulated and called into play automatically by the delivery of the peat against the gauge L, which, when forced outwards or backwards by the peat, brings the stop-lever Zin such position that the revolving striker n moves it laterally, and with it the rock-shaft m,

knife M, side guide K, and carrier slide dog r. Thus the eat is eut into blocks of uniform Shape and length, i

regulated automatically bythe delivery of it. After the cut block has been delivered on to the 4carrier slide,

the gauge L returns to its normal position, along with the knife M and side guide K.4

`What I claim herein as new and useful, and desire `to secure by Letters Patent, is I 1. The stirrer or agitator, formed of vanos I) b and d d, connected with a revolving shaft, B, and o'f a convolut'e shape or character, inclining, as they revolve, to press the materialdownwards, for operation in combination with a reversely moving cylinder, D, substantially as speced.

2. The combination, with a revolving stirrer or agitator, of reversely operating eoncentriccylinders,

formed with oblique slots in or through their peripheries, for operation in connection with an intermediate stationary slotted cylinder, substantially as specified. v

3. The combination, with the obliquely slotted revolving outer cylinders F G, and forming tube I, of the director J, substantially as shown and described. v v i 4. vIn combination with the forming tube I, the yielding gauge L` operated by the material in its delivery,

as described.

5. The combination, with the forming-tube I, and yielding gauge L, of the knife M, moi-'ed forward to effect the cut by the' action of the gauge, through mechanism connecting it with the -mill, substantially as herein set forth. Y Y

6. The side guide K, in combination with the knife M and gauge L, for .operation together, essentially as specified.

J. T. FOSTER.

Witnesses:

J. W. CooMns, G. W. Renn. 

